2018-19 Sonoma County Civil Grand Jury Continuity Report

Recommendations 7

• R1

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  The Board of Supervisors BOS BOS responds R1 has not been The BOS’ directive is to fully (BOS) reassign the implemented and may not be operationalize the EOC and Sonoma County implemented. While the Sher- make improvements in EOC Emergency Operations iff’s Office conducts effective facilities, systems, procedures Center to be under 24/7 operations, a major emer- and staff development based on the management of a gency or disaster will continue the EOC After-Action Report. response entity that to require their efforts focus This directive implies that the operates 24 hours a day, on life-safety missions in the BOS assumes their review and seven days a week, such field. County staff identify staff improvements will address as the Sheriff’s Office emergency response functions, weaknesses identified in the grand and that this reassignment such as Alert and Warning, to jury report based on research be made by Dec. 31, organizations that maintain a and interviews. The Grand Jury 2018. 24/7 operational capability. June report identified challenges the 11, 2018 the BOS reviewed the County EOC experienced during EOC After-Action Report and the critical initial period in the directed staff resources to fully night of October 8 to October 9. operationalize the EOC and Those challenges led to a lack make improvements in EOC of communication with/and facilities, systems, procedures availability to other local EOCs. and staff development. August 14, 2018 the County Board See “Additional Grand Jury of Supervisors directed that Comments” below the emergency management program report directly to the County Administrator. Final Report 2018-2019 RECOMMENDATIONS RES. RESPONSES 2018-2019 GJ OBSERVATIONS
• R2

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  The County CAO County staff and stakeholder The CAO responds that R2 has Administrative Officer partners will revise the Emer- not been implemented but will be (CAO) revise the County gency Operations Plan in implemented in FY2018/2019. Emergency Operations FY2018-2019. The Grand Jury identifies this Plan in collaboration as a time critical issue and thus with all City Managers it should meet the target date. to incorporate lessons The Grand Jury acknowledges learned from this the CAO commitment to work emergency by 12/31/18. closely with stakeholder partners. The grand jury report specifically recommends collaboration with City Managers when revising the County Emergency Operations Plan.
• R3

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  The BOS incorporate BOS County staff and stakeholder The BOS responds that R3 has
• R4

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  The BOS strongly BOS The County, through the Cal- The BOS responds that R4 has support revisions to the ifornia State Association of been implemented. The Grand State of California Fire Counties (CSAC), continues to Jury acknowledges BOS support Mutual Aid as cited by monitor and supports this item. for the important revisions the California Fire Chiefs CSAC includes mutual aid underway. Association, by 12/31/18. funding as a priority and sup- ported the Fire Chiefs’ efforts in committee hearings. The BOS adopted a formal resolution of support on Sept. 11, 2018. ADDITIONAL GRAND JURY COMMENTS The grand jury report identifies challenges the County EOC experienced during the critical initial period the night of October 8 to October 9. Those challenges led to a lack of communication with/and availability to other local EOCs. Documents in the public domain, which date from early 2017 through December of 2018, re- inforce the findings and recommendations in the 2017-2018 Grand Jury report. Documents of particular interest are: 1. Notes from the Sonoma County Operational Area Emergency Council meetings -- specifi- cally May 10, 2017/Unfinished Business/Item C 2. Wildland Fire Assessment report prepared by the Permit Sonoma and accepted by the BOS in April 2017, indicates underlying weaknesses in emergency preparedness and the high probability of a repeat of the Hanley fire of 1964 Final Report 2018-2019 3. Review of the September, 2018 emergency alert system pointed out the remaining weak- nesses of the Wireless Emergency Alert/Integrated Public Alert & Warning System (WEA/ IPAWS) 4. Public comments from the previous Project Manager of the Sonoma County Public Safety Consortium at the June 11th Special BOS meeting The documents above underscore the fact that the responsible individuals at the executive level were informed of mid-level concerns about of the WEA/IPAWS system. The poor state of staff training and preparedness for an emergency was known to top-level leaders. These deficiencies are still problematic. The Grand Jury determined there is a lack of acceptance of responsibility for response to the fire at the proper executive level. Instead, the Emergency Services Manager who oversaw emergen- cy response was reassigned in March 2018. The 2017/2018 Grand Jury report on the Firestorm describes the lack of information at the crit- ical time the fire crossed into Santa Rosa. The warning and evacuation call from one mid-level City Fire Marshall, in the Fountaingrove area at the time, may have prevented several hundred people from perishing. After the firestorm, a critical communication finding was poor information dissemination from the County EOC to the City EOCs. Since the County EOC is the communications nexus between State and City Emergency Management entities, this function is crucial. With this in mind, the Grand Jury believes the EOC reorganization proposed by both the BOS and the CAO is adequate in addressing the information dissemination problem. However, the reorganization of EOC fails to assign a person or entity with 24/7 notification responsibility to initiate emergency response. Final Report 2018-2019 RES = Respondent BOS = Board of Supervisors CAO = County Administrative Officer Dir DHS = Director of Health Services AS Dir = Animal Services Director THE EVACUATION AND SHELTERING OF ANIMALS RECOMMENDATIONS RES. RESPONSES 2018-2019 GJ OBSERVATIONS
• R5

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  The BOS and CAO BOS The County of Sonoma through The BOS and CAO respond enter into Memoranda CAO Animal Services, will continue R5 has not been implemented of Understandings to improve coordination with and may not be implemented. with non-governmental its non-governmental partners. The Grand Jury acknowledges organizations that play The need for Memoranda of that the Bay Area Urban Area a role in animal disaster Understanding will be evaluated Initiative (UASI) is using the emergencies by Dec.31, on a case-by-case basis. The proven Sonoma County Disaster 2018. coordinated effort, which does Response Plan as a template to not make use of Memoranda of standardize disaster response Understanding supports the ob- plans with governmental and jective of a regionalized disaster non-governmental stakeholders. response amongst both govern- Therefore this has met the mental and non-governmental intent of the Grand Jury stakeholders. recommendation.
• R6

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  Training standards should On August 14, 2018 the BOS The Director of DHS responds be enforced by ensuring Dir approved a resolution mandat- R6 has not been implemented but that the Animal Services DHS ing the creation of a new Emer- will be implemented in the future. Director require that all for gency Staff Development Pro- The Grand Jury commends that field officers complete AS gram to prepare County staff to 72% of staff have completed Incident Command Dir function as Emergency Workers. required online courses as of System and fire safety This mandatory training will be August 20, 2018. The Grand courses with an emphasis tailored to roles staff are likely Jury encourages all staff meet the on animal emergencies, to play in an emergency. target date. and the Director of DHS ensure that all Department Operation Center members complete the mandatory Incident Command System by December 31, 2018. Final Report 2018-2019 RECOMMENDATIONS RES. RESPONSES 2018-2019 GJ OBSERVATIONS
• R7

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  The BOS and CAO BOS The CAO will conduct a man- The BOS and CAO respond R7 analyze the current CAO agement review of Animal Ser- has not been implemented but placement of Animal vices, to evaluate the need for will be implemented in the future. Services under the an assignment within an agency The Grand Jury encourages the Department of Health that operates 24 hours a day. CAO conduct a management Services (DHS), and review and analyze the need to determine if Animal reassign Animal Services to an Services should be agency that operates 24 hours per reassigned to an agency day by the recommended target. that operates 24 hours per day by Dec.31, 2018. Final Report 2018-2019 RES = Respondent Dir PS = Director Permit Sonoma OVERALL PROGRESS AT PERMIT SONOMA RECOMMENDATIONS RES. RESPONSES 2018-2019 GJ OBSERVATIONS